Car-ventilating system



memeAn 12,1

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CAR-VEKT ILATING SYSTEM Application filedSeptember 1c, 1926. Serial no. 135,730.

Our invention relates to improvements in ventilating systems'for cars,and more especially to a type adapted to supply fresh air at -atemperature which will maintain the 5 temperature in a car alwayssubstantially con-'- stant.

To this end, our invention embodies a system comprls ng an air intake,an air conveymg passage, together with an air circulating means, andprovided with a coil interposed betweenthe air circulating means and theair passage, which coil is adapted to serve either as a heating coil,as, for instance, a radiator connected to a steam supply or, as acooling '15 .coil, such as, for example, an expansion coil of arefrigerating system. We have provided suitable connections forconnecting the ends of the coil with either a source of steam, suchas aregular steam line from a locomo- .tive boiler, or for connecting theends of the coil to-a suitable refrigerating plant of a type to becarried by a railroad car and to be driven by any suitable means as, forinstance, through a mechanical connection way influencing the othersystem or the pipe connections therefor, the supply pipe for therefrigerating system being provided adj acentv the cut-off valve withthe expansion valve which, when taken together with the coil,

constitutethe necessary expansion coils for a refrigerating system ofthe type employed.

A single'automatic control means. has been ,provided which'is adapted tobe selectively connected to either one of the two systems, 0 j thecontrol means comprising a thermostat which, when connected with thesteam supply,

controls a throttle positioned within the steam supply pipe in a mannerto pass or obstruct the passage of steam, permitting such an amount toreach the coil as will cause the temperature within the car to bemaintaine d within a predetermined ran e of temperature, .In the eventthat'the t ermostat ,is connected to the refrigerating system, va-:riations .in the temperature within the car 'a' result to be such, thatthe temperature in within a predetermined range will, through suitableelectrical connections, influence a magnetically operatedbelt-tighte'ner, which belt-tightener being interposed between thedriving axle and the driven wheel of the refrigerating plant Willcausethe driving influence'of the car axle to be automatically clutched inand out as a source of ower, and thereby cause the refrigerating p antto operate and in turn to cool the coils more or less according to thetemperature already existing in the car, the operation always being suchas to counteract any variations, in temperature due to outsideatmospheric conditions. a

One of the objects of our invention is to provide a circulatingvsystem-for railroadvcars which will .supply fresh air to the interior ofa car, the temperature of which has been previously established so as tomaintain the temperature oflthe car substantially constant for allseasons of the year.

Another object of our invention istoprovide a ventilating system forrailroad cars in WhlChLiS provided a coilinterposed inthe 75 circuit ofair, which coil isadapted for use either as a heatin coil or a coolincoil, together with suita le connections or selectivelyeonnecting thecoil with a steam supply or a refrigerating system.

Another object of our invention is to provide a ventilatinig systemforrailroad cars embodyingthe a vantages ofthe above stat-- ed ob ectstogether -Wlth a single control means operable upon temperatureconditions, and which is of a ty e suitable to control a. steamthrottle, as -w en connected to oper ate in conjunction with the heatingsystem, or to .control .a. magnetic l )e1t,-t1glitening clutch in amanner to influence the capacity of a refrigerating system, and in bothof these instances,.influencin each of theeonp trol' means an amountwhich will cause the operation of each of the separate systems as thecar ismaintained within-a redetermined rangerre ardless pf-whichof,esesystemsis connec gforo ration.

The -en s l bi ct area p e y n -a th amusem n q d the accompanying sheetof drawings, in

which- 1 is a side elevation of a railroad car equi ped with our impovedventilating stem, t e showing being partly in cross-sectron and partlydiagrammatic, the coils being shown in perspective;

I Figure 2 is a plan view, partly in crosssection of the air passagedisclosin the ventilating openings and t e relations ip ofthe coil tothe entrance of the air passage; and

Figures 3 and 4 are enlarged views in pertlve of two of the ventilatingopenings, sclosing the air deflectors which are of unequal height, thetwoshowings in these fig-' ures re resenting the openings at theopposite en 5 of the air passage, the highest air deflector beingpositioned at the outlet end of the air passage' The varlous novelfeatures of the invention will be a parent from the followingdescription an drawings, and will be partlcularly pointed out in theappended claim.

Referring to the figuresof the drawings, it will be noted that ourventilating system is adapted to be applied to a railroad car 10,provided with an air intake through its top and at one end, such asshown at 11. Positloned in the top of the car on the inside is anelongated housing- 12 having flared ends 13, one of which is adjacentthe air intake, the opposite end being rovided with shutters 14m form asuitab e adjustable outlet.- Inter sed between the air intake and themout of the-air passage is the air circulator 15, preferably of the fantype, which is electrically operated from any'suitable source of currentsuch as, for instance, the li hting System storage battery already provied on railroad cars, the circulating action bein supplemented by asimilar fan 16 positione in the outlet end of the passage, which fanisof the pulling type.

Between the mouth of the air passage and the circulating means, coils 17are laced so as'to receive a current of air from t e intake and topresent a lar surface thereto in a manner to influence t e temperaturethereof. One end of the coil is connected to a pi 18 which is in turnconnected to a suppy of steam, such as the main steam line from alooomotive the opposite end of the coil being. connected to a similarpipe which serves as a return to the steam system, this last-named pipebein omitted in the drawings. Positioned in t e pipe 18 adjacent theconnection to the end of the coil is a cut-off valve 19 and furtherremoved therefrom, is a throttle 20 which is connected with athermostatic control through the electrical connection 21 so as to beinfluenced by -the thermostat 22. The'coil is also connected to therefri rant intake pipe 23, provided with 'a shut-o valve "24' andanexpansion valve 25, the pipe exas tending. down the side of the'car andbeing attached at its other end with a mechanically driven refrigerantvcompressor, designated and the intake for the compressor. The com-.

pressor with the'cooling coils 28 andthe expansion valve constitute theelements of a refrigerating plant of an ordinary type, the cooling coilsserving to reduce the temperature of the compressed medium heated underthe influence of compression. The compressor is driven by a belt, suchas shown at 29, from the car axle,the belt being of a size which 'willordinaril permit slipping between the driving an driven elements,sufficient tautness being efi'ected by the belttightener 30 magneticallycontrolled by suitable mechanism, represented at 31, and influencedthrough suitable connections, such as'shown at 32, from the thermostat22, above referred to, the switch 33 being provided in order that thethermostat may selectively control the heating throttle .20 or themagnetic belt-tigthener 31.

In order to prevent any possibility of steam in one case from enteringtherefrigerating I system, or refrigerant in the other case fromentering the heating system, a second cut-off valve is provided in eachsystem, designated 34 and 35 respectively.

In the air passage, positioned'in the upper portion of the car, areplaced ventilating openings through the ,bottom wall thereof in a mannerto cause this uniform distribution of the circulated air throughout theentire length of the car, eachopening being provided with a screen 36and an upstandlng air deflector 37 adapted to intercept the current ofair and direct same downwardly through the opening. The air openings areprovided with deflectors of different sizes, the one nearest the intakebeing smallest, the others successively (increasing in heightso as toprovide the more uniform distribution of air, this arrangementpermitting anample supply at the end remote from the intake.

In operation, the circulating fan's 15 and 16 are started causing acurrent of an to be drawn in through the intake 11, and forced pver thecoil 17- and through the air passage 12, a portion thereof beingdeflected through each of the air 0 nings and into the respectiveportions of t e car throu hout its len h. Depending upon the season 0the year, eit er the steam system or refrigerating system is connectedto the coil in a manner to either,

raise the temperature or to lower the temperature to thatdesired to bemaintained in the car or it may be that the outside temperature is thesame as that'desired in which event no heating or cooling would be'eflected. the event the steam system is to beconnected, valves 24 and 35are. shut ofiand the valves 19 and 34; are opened ina manner to permitthe supply of steam from the main stem line of the train to enter thecoil through pi 19, in which instance the coil acts as a ra 'ator toelevate the temperature of the air as drawn in from the outside. In thiscase, the switch 33 is connected in the manner shown in Figure 1 so thatthethermostat 22 influences,

through the electric connection 21, the throtth 20, thereby regulatingthe passage of time when the outside atmospheric temperature is abovethat desired to be maintained in the car, valves 19 and'34 are shut offand .valves 24 and are opened. The belt-tightener 30, which is capableof being set to er it be in comunction with the heating idle, ispositioned in a manner to tighten the belt 29, thereby causing therotation of the car axle to set the refrigerating plant in operation,which acts to supply through the pipe 23 condensed refrigerant which hasbeen cooled in its condensed state, to the expansion valve 25 whichvalve permits the re- .frigerant to expand in the coil 17 with a greatabsorption of heat and to return to the compressor through pipe 27. Inthis case, the thermostat 22 is also employed, the switch 3.3 beingmoved to the opposite terminal in a manner to cause magnetic clutch 31to be influenced electrically according to the temperature differencesfound in the railroad car. Here also the electrical influence on thebelt-tightener, for every degree of temperature change-as registered atthe thermostat, is such that the drive of the refrigerant comfpressor isinfluenced to cause the compressor to pump agreater or less amount ofrefrigerant which amount is exactly sufficient to cause the coils tocool the incoming air to an extent to counteract the difference intemperature found in the'car. In the event the outside temperature isexactly that which is desirable for the inside temperature, the incomingair will be forced into the car without treatment for temperature, byvirtue of the fact that the thermostat controlwill so influence thesystem to which it is connected as to prevent any action thereof, withinthat particular range found in the car.

ters 14 which may be closed to a variable ex i tent at which time theair is forced into theintake by the circulator 15 and permitted-to pressdirectly through t e air greater or less amount, so as to amount passinginto the car.

We claim: A car ventilating system comprising in uence the combination,meansfor circulating a current of fresh air', a coil located in the pathof the circulated air for controlling the tempera-- ture thereof, asource of steam and means having a shut-off valve for connecting saidsource of steam to said coil, a refrigerating.

plant, and means having a shut-off valve' for connecting saidrefrigerating plant to said poil, electrically responsive means forcontrolling the supplg of steam and electrically responsive means rcontrolling the capacity of said refrigerating plant and a singlethermostat adapted to control either of said electricallyresponsivemeans and means for selectively connectin said thermostat toone or the other of sai electrically responsive means. I

Signed at Hammond, Indiana, this 13th day of September, 1926;

EDGAR M. WILCOX. MCCORMACK O. McPHERSON.

Durin the operation of this system, wheth- I J coolin systems, anabsolutely uniform dis tributlon of air throughout the length of the icar is assured by the type of air deflectors employed, namelybyproviding air deflectors the fans may beregulated as a whole by shut- I

